Interlocking swimming pool cover



Feb. 17, 1970 A. B. REGAN ETAL v INTERLOCKING SWIMMING POOL cdvER 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 24, 1967 INVENTORS ANN B REGA N ALE'EN B-DAWSON ATTORNEYS Jam 0n #ZM A. B. REGAN ETAL 3,495,279

INTERLOCKING SWIMMING POOL COVER Feb. 17, 1970 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledAug. 24, 1967 INVENTORS A NN B REGAN ALEENB-DAWSON ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent 3,495,279 INTERLOCKING SWIMMING POOL COVER Ann R. Regan,830 Amies Lane, Bryn Mawr, Pa. 19010, and Aleen B. Dawson, The Chimneys,Stockton, NJ. 08559 Filed Aug. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 663,043

Int. Cl. E04h 3/19 US. Cl. 4-172.14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREThis invention relates to swimming pools and more particularly to acombined swimming pool cover and protective fence.

Though heretofore it has been known to utilize panels for covering aswimming pool as a fence when the pool is in an uncovered condition, thepanels have been designed to cooperate with permanently mounted fenceportions, the arrangement usually being such that the panels form aportion of two opposed sides of the fence with mechanical means beingprovided to move the panel portions over the pool so that they extendlongitudinally of the pool and abut intermediate thereof whereby thepool is covered by only two panels. Obviously, where the pool is of areasonably large size, the distance that must be spanned longitudinallyby the panels is excessive and furthermore the panels are extremelyheavy and cumbersome and usually require expensive conveying means fortransferring the panels from their vertical, fence-forming position totheir position over the pool.

The object of the present invention is to provide a pool cover composedof a plurality of rigid individual panels which span the width of a pooland are thus adaptable to a pool of any length, the panels being capableof being transferred manually from their positions covering the pool tovertical positions surrounding the pool whereby the panels serve as afence.

A more detailed object of the invention is to provide a pool cover ofthe foregoing nature including interlocking means for each of the panelswhereby once they have been moved into their position of use over thepool they may be locked in position, it being thereafter virtuallyimpossible to remove any panel with respect to another except in adeliberate and pro-determined manner following the release of lockingmeans.

Other objects and their attendant advantages will become apparent as thefollowing detailed description is read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the panels of the invention partlycovering a pool and partly forming a fence around the pool;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view taken substantiallyon line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a broken horizontal plan view showing the manner in'which thepanels of the invention may cooperate with each other and with the endsof the pool against unintended removal;

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially on line4-4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged broken horizontal plan view looking in thedirection of the line 55 of FIG. 1.

Referrig now to the drawings, the numeral designates a swimming pool ofconventional construction having "ice side walls 12 and end walls 14.Extending along the sides of the pool and coextensive with each of theupper edges thereof is a guide member 16 which may be of extrudedaluminum or the like having a gently curving upper side 18 and aplurality of longitudinally spaced openings adapted to receive fasteners20. The member 16 is provided with an outer,v overhanging portion 22havinga down-turned outer lip 24 which is adapted to be spaced above theside 12 of the pool to define a longitudinal slot leading into alongitudinally extending housing or passageway 26 of greater verticaldimension than the slot 25 so as to provide a longitudinally extendingguide means for roller means such as balls 28 which are caged byretainer means 30 in the horizontal flanges 32 of panels 36 constructedin accordance with the invention.

As can be seen, each of the panels comprises a rigid, open framecomposed of end and side channel members 38, 40 and a plurality ofspaced, T-shaped intermediate channel member 42, all of which are joinedtogether at their points of intersection with the side members 40 bysuitable angles 44 as can be clearly seen in FIGS. 2 and 4. The end andside frame members 38, 40 are of inverted L-shaped configuration incross-section with each having horizontal leg parts atop vertical legparts, the horizontal leg parts facing toward each other and cooperatingwith the corresponding parts of the T-shaped intermediate members 42 toprovide supports for mesh 46, which may be aluminum Wire, fiberglass orthe like, and which may be peripherally fastened across the open spacesdefined by the horizontal parts of the frame members by rivets 48.

The side members 40 of the respective panels have a length correspondingto the width of the pool and each member 40 on one of the panel sides isprovided with an integral L-shaped channel part 50 defining an upwardlyopening recess 52 extending along that side of each panel. On theopposite sidevthere is an inverted L-shaped channel member 54 (see FIG.4), which defines a downwardly opening recess 56, the upwardly openingrecess 52 of one panel cooperating with the downwardly opening recess 54on the contiguous side of the next adjacent panel as clearly seen inFIG. 4 to provide an interlocking connection between the two panelswhich positively prevents the removal of one panel relative to anotherwhen the rollers 28 are within the guides 26 in the side members 16.

In use, the individual panels are positioned over the pool by insertionof the horizontal flanges 32 into open ends of the longitudinal passages26 defined by the members 16 along the side edges of the pool. For thepanel construction shownin FIGS. 3 and 4, the open end of the members 16would be on the left hand side so that the flanges 32 of the panelswould be inserted from left to right whereby the upwardly open recess 52would be the last to move past the ends of the members 16, thearrangement being such that just before the panel is moved to the rightcompletely clear of the left hand end of the guide members 16, thedownwardly Opening recess 56 of the next adjacent panel would be engagedwith the upwardly open channel 52 of the first panel whereupon thesecond panel would have its flanges inserted into the open end of theguides, with this process being repeated until all of the panels are intheir position of use covering the pool. Desirably, the first and lastpanels would not be provided with the L-shaped recessed portions 50, 54on their outer sides so that the outer side edge of the first panelwould move into abutting enagagement with stop member 58 closing off theright hand ends of the guide v passages 26 for the ball rollers 28 asbest seen in FIG. 4.

3 which is hinged at 64 for movement from a position of storage in arecess 66 in the upper surface of the pool side to a vertical positionas indicated in FIG. 3 to receive the locking member 68 of a suitablepadlock or the like.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the panels when not serving as a cover mayserve as a fence surrounding the pool. Desirabl y', each panel may besupported in a vertical position by the provision of a plurality ofspaced H-beam members 69 whose flanges, as seen in FIG. 5, extend onopposite sides from the central web to afford aiigned slots 69 adaptedto accommodate the end channel members 38 of the panels when they areslid into the slots in a vertical disposition. As can be seen in FIG. 1,this arrangement affords a fencing around the pool which not only is asafety barrier but also provides convenient storage for the panels.Desirably, a gate 72 may be provided along the line of support member 68at either or both ends of the pool as shown in FIG. 1, it beingunderstood that the gate or gates would be more or less permanentlyerected to cooperate with the panels and provide the closeable access tothe fenced enclosure when the panels are serving this purpose. The gatemay be of any width and can normally be stored, as desired, until thefence is erected.

Local regulations normally specify the height of fences surrounding poolareas and, to maintain an attractive appearance and confirm to localordinances, the height and width should be properly proportioned.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the presentinvention has provided a pool cover com posed of a series of rigidpanels which may be releasably interlocked together against inadvertentor unintended displacement from over the pool yet are readily separableone from the other so as to be utilized as a fence or enclosure for thepool when the panels are not serving their function as a cover. Thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the invention is susceptible of avariety of changes and modifications without, however, departng from thescope and spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A cover member for extending horizontally over a swimming poolcomprising a plurality of individual panels, each said panel havingsides of a length sufiicient to enable the panel to span said pool,panel locking means mounted on said panels to selectively interlock orrelease adjacent panels upon relative movement thereof in given opposediocking and unlocking directions to en age or release said lockingmeans, said panel locking means including panel mating sections alongsaid panel sides, said panel mating sections having upwardly openingchannel means extending along one side of each said panel adapted toreceive a downwardly opening channel means extending along a contiguousside of an adjacent panel and a downwardly opening channel meansextending along the opposite side of each said panel for engagement withan upwardly opening channel means extending along the contiguous side ofan adjacent panel and housing means mounted adjacent opposite sides ofsaid pool to receive opposite ends of each said panel, said housingmeans being formed to permit horizontal movement of such panels in saidopposed locking and unlocking directions. I

2. The cover member of claim 1 wherein projecting means adapted to bereceived in said housing means are secured to opposite ends of each saidpanel, each said housing means including a slot extending longitudinallythereof along said pool to receive said projecting means.

3. The cover member of claim 2 including, in combi nation, elongatedupright support members spaced away from the side of said pool, eachupright support member being formed with vertically extending slotsalong two opposite sides thereof, each said slot being adapted toreceive the projecting means at the end of one of said panels, saidupright support members being relatively spaced to permit a panel tospan two adjacent support members.

'; 4. The cover member of claim 1 wherein roller means are mounted atthe opposite ends of each said panel to be received in said housingmeans, said housing means including a longitudinal slot opening towardsthe side of said pool, and a longitudinal passage of greater verticaldimension than said slot, said roller means at the ends of each saidpanel being received in said passage for guiding said panel in itsmovement over said pool.

5. The cover member of claim 4 including stopmeans at one end of saidpassage, and releasable locking means at other end of said passage saidreleasable locking means cooperating with said cover to preventinadvertent removai of said cover from its position covering said pool.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,757,763 5/1930 Betzler 52-588XR 2,848,722 8/ 1958 Choporis 4-172 2,895,143 7/1959 Seitz 4-1722,958,083 11/1960 Shook et a1. 4-172 3,094,710 6/1963 Hoke 4-1723,093,834 6/1963 Watkins 4172 3,114,153 12/1963 Pierson n 4172 LAVERNED. GEIGER, Primary Examiner H. K. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner

